Aibo

Aibo may have outlived its usefulness for Sony, but its contributions to robotics have made a lasting impression. The four-legged mechanical pup, which has played many a game of robo-soccer, is one of the five new inductees to the Robot Hall of Fame at Carnegie Mellon University. The inductees were named late Wednesday; the induction ceremony will take place June 21.

"The Aibo has evolved to be a robust, fully programmable robot with perception, onboard computing and great four-legged motion," Manuela Veloso, a computer science professor who leads Carnegie Mellon's RoboCup soccer teams, said in a statement.

Gort

The Robot Hall of Fame pays homage to fictional robots as well as real-world ones. Among the 2006 inductees is Gort, the strong-but-silent android from the 1951 film, "The Day The Earth Stood Still."

"Gort was a reaction to a world mired in post-Holocaust existential relativism, to belief in definable concepts of 'good and evil' and other societal and moral dictums," Don Marinelli, director of the Entertainment Technology Center, said in a statement.

Published: July 19, 2006 -- 11:35 GMT (04:35 PDT)

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

Maria

One of the most famous, and perhaps the earliest, celluloid robot was the art deco-styled Maria, from Fritz Lang's silent film, "Metropolis." She's also among this year's inductees.

Published: July 19, 2006 -- 11:35 GMT (04:35 PDT)

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

SCARA

The decidedly more utilitarian design heading into the Hall of Fame is SCARA--short for selective compliance assembly robot arm--a popular class of industrial robot developed in the 1970s and '80s. It was used in pick-and-place assembly and packaging operations.

David

The final 2006 honoree is David, the waif from Steven Spielberg's "Artificial Intelligence: AI." Earlier inductees into the Robot Hall of Fame include the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO from the "Star Wars" movies; Asimo, a biped from Honda; and the Mars rover Pathfinder.